The way we are

Sep 24, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – This week came with the sad news of the death of Hollywood heartthrob, Robert Redford. There was a time that whenever major film stars died, the cinemas and television would host replays of their better movies.

That tradition is not to be found anymore. Not even our television stations with their poor programming both to host reruns of the movies of the deceased stars. Robert Redford made many excellent movies. But the one I particularly enjoyed as The Way We Were which came out in 1973 and was shown in Guyana at the Plaza Cinema. The Way We Were’ which stars Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford and is directed by Sydney Pollack.

The Way We Were won two academy awards. Both awards were for its musical content. The movie is best remembered for its soundtrack which bears the name of the movie and which became a pop hit. The Way We Were is not your ordinary love story. The love story is just a corollary to the main commentary of the movie which is about the two types of persons in the world.

There are those who are passionate about rights and a fairer society. They take up their placards and raise their voices in protest. They act. This group tends to be small, extremely small. It comprises only a handful of persons. In the movie, Barbara Streisand played the role of a passionate activist.

On the other hand, there is another type of personality, those who stand on the sidelines and watch on. They are indifferent to taking a stand on social and political causes. Robert Redford personified this type of person in the movie. The vast majority of persons in the world belong to this personality type.

Those who stand up and fight end up, just as the heroine of the movie, rejected and heartbroken. They continue to fight on even when it is clear that very few care. They are not accepted by mainstream society. They are not part of the main social circles.

On the other hand, there are those who sit on the sidelines and refuse to get involved in just causes. They sit on the proverbial fence. They end up being financially successful and socially acceptable. Anyone who lived through the dark days of dictatorship in Guyana knows, very well, these two types of personalities. A handful of persons were the ones who took the fight to the oppressors. They are still fighting today while the masses stand on the sidelines looking on, refusing to lend their support to just causes.

Oppression had its good side, though. It was this system which threw up persons who made life-long commitments to fight for the rights of others. Many of them are still in the trenches fighting, at great personal sacrifice. Some, like Walter Rodney, did not make it. They were slaughtered by the dictatorship.

Some were jailed, others dismissed, others broken financially. The committed suffered. They could not find jobs. The private sector did not wish to employ them for fear of incurring the wrath of the dictatorship. Many of these activists, who dedicated themselves to fighting for others, ended up having to scrounge for a living.

On the other hand, the majority of citizens turned a blind eye to the struggle for the rights of others. They refused to participate because they were not prepared to be exposed to victimization or were fearful. They even refused to help those who were standing up for the people. The excuse made was that they did not wish to get involved in politics. Fifty-two years after the making of The Way We Were, the stereotypes still exist.

Generally, there are still two types of persons in this world. A handful of persons still are the only ones who will stand up for what is right. Then there are the tens of thousands of persons who refuse to “get involved”. A great many wrongs are being committed in Guyana today. The silence of the majority is deafening. They opt to stay on the sidelines rather than get involved. The way we were remains the way we are.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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The way we are

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